Chapter 690: Watchdog
The Mire River Water God led the long-admired great sword immortal around a screen wall connected to the Mire River's water transport, through corridors and past pavilions, until they reached the main hall. An old cook had just returned from the kitchen, holding a small dish filled with facing-heaven chili peppers from the Liu family shop, which had been heavily fried in oil, bright red and intensely spicy. The old cook stammered, "Mi... Milady, do you still want the chili peppers?"
Earlier, the Water God Madam had felt that tonight's oil-fried eel noodles lacked enough punch, so she had ordered the old cook to fry a dish of facing-heaven chili peppers. But before she could get it, the sword immortal had descended upon Biyou Palace.
She glanced at the small dish in the old cook's hand, then at the pot of oil-fried eel noodles on the table, and finally turned to look at the sword immortal Mr. Zuo beside her. She felt a bit embarrassed.
Rarely having a midnight snack, and she got caught. If only she had chosen a smaller bowl.
Zuo said, "Water God Madam, please continue your midnight snack. I'm not in a hurry to return to Tongye Sect. After you finish, I'll discuss the main matter."
Look at that—what does it mean to be an approachable sword immortal? What does it mean to be a gentle, courteous, and humble scholar? The direct disciple of the Old Master Wen Sheng before them was exactly that. She felt that the scholars of the Wen Sheng lineage were all so considerate.
She tentatively asked, "Would Mr. Zuo like a bowl too?"
Zuo sat down nearby, glanced at the large bowl on the table, and said, "No need."
"Then I'll trouble Mr. Zuo to wait a moment for me. Sky and earth are vast, but the belly is biggest, haha."
After finishing her polite words, she no longer stood on ceremony. She took the dish from the old cook, poured it into the noodles, stirred with her chopsticks, and began to eat her midnight snack. Out of habit, she propped one leg on the chair, but then remembered Mr. Zuo was beside her, so she quickly sat up straight. Every three big mouthfuls, she picked up the wine jug on the table and took a sip of the liquor brewed in Biyou Palace. The liquor was strong, paired with facing-heaven chili peppers. After each drink, the short Water God Madam would close her eyes and give a slight shiver, feeling exhilarated. She would wipe the sweat from her face randomly and continue eating the "bowl" of eel noodles.
Biyou Palace had none of those messy formalities or strict rules. For example, the old cook stayed in the main hall and didn't leave, with a perfectly good reason: he needed to take away the bowls and dishes after the Water God Madam finished eating.
Some female officials and maid spirits of Biyou Palace, who were originally water ghosts drowned in the Mire River, also huddled cautiously outside both sides of the door. After all, a sword immortal was not a common sight, so they came to soak up some of his immortal aura. They didn't dare make noise, just stared wide-eyed at the man sitting on the chair with his eyes closed in meditation. So this was the Mr. Zuo who had "visited" Tongye Sect twice. In the words of their Water God Madam, he was the one who could kill Feisheng realm Du Mao with a single sword. Above and below, only Mr. Zuo mattered. In front of Mr. Zuo, no one in our Tongye Continent could fight—not even old man Xun of Jade Gui Sect, and even less the new sect master Jiang Shangzhen.
The Mire River Water God finished her noodles and glared at the door, shouting, "Haven't you seen enough?!"
There was a rustling sound as everyone scattered.
She chose to sit across from Zuo, but picked a chair near the door, and said with a smile, "I'm sorry about this, Mr. Zuo. My Biyou Palace usually doesn't have any divine lords visiting. They always complain that I, the Water God Madam, don't have enough prestige. Let them have a good look this time."
Zuo opened his eyes and said, "No matter."
The reason he had flown south on his sword to the Mire River and visited Biyou Palace tonight was because there were some things he needed to personally hand over to this Water God Madam, whom his youngest junior brother had described as having "more heroic spirit than the entire Mire River could contain." Back then, outside that wine shop on the Sword Qi Great Wall, Chen Ping'an had said those words. At the time, two gentlemen were sitting in the middle, drinking small wine, using the landscape stories of their closed-door disciple as accompaniment.
This Biyou Mansion of the Mire River Water God had faced many hardships when it was promoted from Mansion to Palace back then. If not for the help of Zhong Kui, a gentleman from the Great Vow Academy, Biyou Mansion might not have been promoted to a Palace and would have been recorded in the academy's books. The reason was that the Mire River Water God Madam insisted on requesting a copy of the Old Master Wen Sheng's classic to serve as Biyou Palace's supreme treasure. This indeed violated the rules. The Wen Sheng had already been removed from the Confucian lineage, his accompanying statues removed from the Confucian Temple, and all his works banned and destroyed. One must know that the mountain master of the Great Vow Academy was someone from the Second Sage Manor. So for Biyou Mansion to still be promoted to Biyou Palace, aside from being grateful to Zhong Kui for his righteous words, the Mire River Water God Madam also had a much improved impression of that mountain master sage of the Great Vow Academy. His knowledge was not great, but his magnanimity was considerable.
She seemed unusually flustered, and since Zuo didn't speak, the atmosphere in the main hall turned a bit cold. The Mire River Water God racked her brains for an opening line. Whether from shyness or excitement, her eyes sparkled, but her teeth chattered. She straightened her back, gripped the armrests of the chair, and as a result, her feet left the ground. "Mr. Zuo, they say your sword technique is the best, and your sword qi is so abundant that it surpasses everyone under heaven. Within a hundred miles of Mr. Zuo, even earthly immortals dare not approach. Those sword qi alone already form a small heaven and earth! But Mr. Zuo is compassionate and, to avoid harming living beings by mistake, you left the sea to visit immortals, far from the human world..."
Zuo shook his head and said, "It's not that exaggerated. Back then, as long as I was careful to restrain it, the sword qi wouldn't harm anyone."
She sighed in admiration, "Mr. Zuo is truly formidable!"
Zuo said, "Water God Madam can just call me Zuo. I don't deserve the title 'Master.'"
She shook her head vigorously, "No, no, I can't do that. If I don't call you Mr. Zuo, calling you Left Sword Immortal would be too vulgar. There are quite a few sword immortals in the world, but there aren't many true scholars in my eyes. As for addressing you by name, I haven't had that much to drink. I dare not, I dare not."
Zuo couldn't be bothered to argue about it. He stood up, took out a book from his sleeve, and walked towards the Mire River Water God.
She immediately jumped up, rubbed her hands on her clothes, and respectfully took the yellowed book.
The book was of the most ordinary material, printed by a bookshop in a small country on the Central Earth Divine Continent in the old days. Aside from being a first edition first printing, there was nothing else praiseworthy about it. The book merchant had limited funds, the bookshop was small, and the quality of paper, font, carving, and other aspects were all substandard. At the time, the book didn't sell well, so the Master had paid out of his own pocket and bought nearly a hundred copies in one go. Moreover, he had his disciples buy them from different bookshops. He was worried that if the bookshop couldn't sell a single copy, it would be deemed unworthy of a place on the shelves and thrown into the storeroom, never to see the light of day again.
Back then, Zuo and his group had split up to buy books and had been busy for days. Zuo would pay for the book and leave immediately, heading to the next bookshop, so his trips were very quick. Only Xiao Qi would always take until dark to return to the school, and he hadn't bought many books. When the Master asked, Xiao Qi answered, and the Master laughed heartily. It turned out that Xiao Qi only bought one book at each bookshop, and he would inevitably chat with the shopkeeper for half a day about the content, to the point where most shopkeepers mistakenly thought that the dusty book might actually be a hidden gem, some great sage's work. Could it be that such a brilliant young seed of learning held it in such high regard? Afterward, they would half-believingly order a few more copies from their familiar book merchants. Then, a few days later, Xiao Qi would remind the then-big senior brother to go to those bookshops he had visited and buy another copy.
Zuo said, "My junior brother promised Biyou Palace that he would send a copy of my Master's book. But since my junior brother is busy now, I came tonight to deliver the book."
She took the book with both hands and nodded gently, "I knew Sir Chen would keep his word, but I never imagined that Mr. Zuo would help deliver it."
Zuo smiled and said, "Not only that, but my junior brother told our Master many things about you, Water God Madam, and Biyou Palace. After hearing them, my Master was truly delighted and drank a good bit more wine."
She was extremely excited and said in a trembling voice, "Even the Wen Sheng Old Master knows about me?"
Zuo nodded, "My Master said that the Water God Madam is a true hero with good judgment. He also said that his own knowledge is still somewhat inferior to that of the Supreme Sage."
In the old days, the Wen Sheng's writings were beautiful in language but rigorous in style, thorough in reasoning, and clear in structure. Even those with only basic literacy and a slight understanding of meaning could easily comprehend them.
Thus, the old man, whose official rank was no more than an old scholar, was known for his "harmony of the three teachings and the great accomplishment of the many scholars."
The Water God Madam didn't know what to say anymore. She felt dizzy, as if she had drunk ten thousand catties of the finest wine in the world.
Zuo added, "However, my Master also reminded that this book should be kept for your personal collection. Don't enshrine it. There's no need."
She said, "Since it's the Wen Sheng Old Master's instruction, I will follow it."
Zuo then took out several bamboo slips, stacked them together, and handed them to her one by one. On the first slip were six characters. Zuo explained, "This is the character 'god' (神), written by my Master in six different scripts. The original character 'god' created by Ritual Sage was both phonetic and ideographic. As time passed, we have seal script, clerical script, running script, cursive script, and regular script. The general meaning is that we hope you, Water God Madam, will not forget your duties and continue to protect this land. As for these bamboo slips, they once belonged to my junior brother."
The Mire River Water God took the first slip and felt that the small piece of bamboo, with its six characters, weighed a thousand jun in her hand.
Zuo suddenly laughed, "At the time, the Master was quite drunk. It was my junior brother who insisted that the Master write a few more words for Biyou Palace. In fact, my Master hadn't picked up a brush to write for a long time. My junior brother was beside him... urging the Master to write with enough spirit and energy, otherwise it wouldn't be fit to give away, and it would unnecessarily damage the Master's majestic image in the Water God Madam's heart."
Some things could be said, while others could not. For example, Zuo felt that Chen Ping'an was too disrespectful at the time. A disciple should have proper etiquette for a disciple. But just as Zuo muttered a word, Chen Ping'an called out "Master," and the Master gave him a slap.
Senior brother complains, left gets hit. Just get used to it.
Zuo handed over the second bamboo slip, "This is the Master's high hopes for you, wishing you a smooth path on the Great Dao."
"Collected water becomes a deep pool, where dragons are born; accumulated goodness forms virtue, and the spirit is naturally attained, the sage's mind is complete."
Handing over the third slip, Zuo said, "The Master said that Biyou Palace and the Mire River Water God are worthy of this phrase."
"When one's will is cultivated, one can be proud of wealth and nobility; when righteousness is prioritized, one can look down upon kings and dukes."
Zuo handed over the fourth bamboo slip, "Before writing, the Master said that he would presume to be presumptuous, taking the liberty as an elder to advise the younger generation. He hopes you won't mind and said that as the Mire River Water God, besides maintaining your own uprightness, you should also deeply experience the joys and sorrows of the people within your domain. Today's gods all come from humans."
"Despising ritual and righteousness while valuing bravery and strength: when poor, they become thieves; when rich, they become bandits."
Zuo handed over the last bamboo slip, "Those who know themselves do not blame others; those who understand fate do not resent heaven. This phrase is the Master's words to you, but in fact, it is even more for the scholars of the world."
Having received a book from the Wen Sheng Old Master and five bamboo slips, the Mire River Water God Madam felt as if she were dreaming, murmuring, "I am unworthy."
Zuo said seriously, "There is one thing I must say a few more words about. If you think that because you know Chen Ping'an, and Chen Ping'an is the Master's closed-door disciple, that you are thus favored by my Master, then you are mistaken. That would be underestimating my Master's knowledge. The sequential doctrine of our Wen Sheng lineage should not be understood that way. It is first that there was the Mire River Water God and Biyou Mansion, then there was the meeting between the Water God Madam and my junior brother. It is first that you sincerely recognized the knowledge of the Wen Sheng lineage, then my Master returned the courtesy."
She was radiant, "Of course!"
Zuo had delivered the book and bamboo slips and was about to return to Tongye Sect immediately.
She looked at the night and tried to persuade him, "Won't Mr. Zuo stay for some wine? Biyou Mansion's brew has a bit of a reputation."
Zuo shook his head, "I don't like drinking."
She felt a little regret, a small flaw in perfection.
Zuo took his leave, stepped over the threshold, and flew away on his sword.
She stood outside the door, looking up to watch the sword immortal travel northward, and sighed with genuine emotion, "Tall Mr. Zuo, formidable, formidable, formidable."
Zuo flew away from the Mire River on his sword, like wind and lightning. When he passed over the capital of Great Spring, it was fine; that Jiang Shangzhen had learned his lesson after being struck by a sword earlier.
He recalled that drinking session from years ago.
The Master, drunk, smilingly asked his junior brother, "If you want to observe a thousand years, count today; if you want to know billions, examine one and two. Is it difficult?"
The junior brother replied, "Knowing the present from the past, knowing the distant from the near, knowing the many from the one, knowing the great from the small, knowing the bright from the dark. Knowing is easy, doing is hard. Hard but not hard."
The Master laughed heartily, telling Zuo to get another jug of wine and remember to settle the bill. Senior and junior brothers must have clear accounts. They couldn't be unscrupulous and run up a tab just because it was the junior brother's shop.
Chen Ping'an was indeed better than his senior brother in one way.
He could keep the Master from being lonely when drinking, and he could make the Master forget eternal sorrow.
The junior brother was truly the only one among the senior brothers and sisters who had a wife.
No wonder he was the Master's favorite.
Zuo had no dissatisfaction with this. On the contrary, he was very glad that the Master and Xiao Qi had taken on such a junior brother.
—
As for the excavation of Treasure Vase Continent's great river, Cui Dongshan was actually just a supervisor. The specific affairs were handled by Guan Yiran and Liu Xunmei, while the true mastermind behind the scenes was Liu Qingfeng.
A wealthy magnate from Great Li, a son of a general from the Chi'er Street family, and a former civil official from the vassal state of Green Phoenix Kingdom.
Cui Dongshan never interacted with mountain cultivators or officials of the great river, delegating all matters to the three young men. Only when Liu Qingfeng found something difficult would he seek Cui Dongshan's decision. The latter was always decisive, almost never leaving matters unresolved overnight.
The great river would pass through the territories of dozens of vassal states, and the golden temples of various mountain and river gods would have to change their domains because of it. Many mountain sects would even have to relocate their mountain residences and entire ancestral halls.
After Lin Shouyi returned from Letter Bamboo Lake, Cui Dongshan kept him by his side and personally guided his cultivation.
Earlier, in his hometown, Lin Shouyi had exchanged a picture scroll passed down by the blind Daoist Jia Sheng with the city lord of Baidi City for the middle and lower volumes of "Cloud Above, Radiant Book." The upper volume was for the Golden Core, the middle for the Nascent Soul, and the lower volume directly pointed to the Jade Pu.
Lin Shouyi was now at the Dragon Gate realm. Not only did he break through quickly, but he also had strong resilience. He was a true embryo of cultivation.
Lin Shouyi's original expectation was to form his Golden Core within a hundred years, but now it seemed it would be much sooner. The Cavern Realm and the Golden Core Realm were two heavenly moats for Qi refiners. Before reaching the Golden Core, so-called geniuses were often not worth scrutinizing. Countless had been exposed by the matter of forming a Golden Core, lingering in the Dragon Gate realm for life, becoming dejected and losing all hope for the Great Dao.
The transmission of Dao techniques most feared three mouths and six ears.
But with Cui Dongshan, common sense didn't apply.
Lin Shouyi directly gave all three volumes of "Cloud Above, Radiant Book" to Cui Dongshan. After the latter finished reading, he filled the three Dao books with annotations and returned them to Lin Shouyi, telling him to come to him in person for clarification if he didn't understand the true meaning of the text.
Today, Lin Shouyi accompanied Cui Dongshan on an inspection of a dam. Dust obscured the sun, and the river channel was already formed, but water hadn't been diverted there yet. On this bank, laborers could not see the people on the opposite bank, showing how vast this future great river's water would be.
Cui Dongshan repeatedly used his sleeve to disperse the dust around him. "When we were traveling and studying back then, I thank that little woman for being so arrogant, looking down on everyone, but willing to regard you as a fellow traveler."
Lin Shouyi nodded. Everyone could see that. Xie Xie's arrogance was always quite straightforward. It made dealing with him easier. The person Lin Shouyi couldn't see through was actually the deposed crown prince of the Lu Kingdom, Yu Lu.
But hearing such words from Cui Dongshan's mouth sounded a bit like he was cursing.
Chen Ping'an and Yu Lu were pure martial artists. Li Baoping and Li Huai were still young at the time. Before Xie Xie became a criminal exile, he was recognized as the top immortal seed in the Lu Kingdom, seen as the most promising talent to reach the upper five realms. And Lin Shouyi was the first person besides Xie Xie to set foot in cultivation.
Lin Shouyi asked with concern, using heart-to-heart communication, "Even the Sword Qi Great Wall couldn't be held. Can our Treasure Vase Continent really hold?"
Cui Dongshan laughed, "What's the point of holding or not holding? If you know you can't hold it, does that mean you don't defend it? Should we have the Confucian Temple sages meet with Tuo Yue Mountain, compare their paper strength, and have our Haoran side list the famous names of upper five realm cultivators, then do arithmetic addition and subtraction that even a school child could do? If we're stronger, the demons retreat to the Wild Waste Continent. If not, we let the demon lords not be in a hurry to act, and we hand over an entire continent, retreating to the Fifth Continent, and then watch from the sidelines, waiting for the next round of arithmetic between Tuo Yue Mountain and the White Jade Capital?"
Cui Dongshan laughed loudly at this point, "To be honest, this method hurts the least."
Lin Shouyi said, "That's not what I meant."
Cui Dongshan nodded, "Of course I know you didn't mean that. You're worried about the life and death of all the people under the mountain."
Lin Shouyi asked, "What should be done? I earnestly ask the Master to teach me."
Cui Dongshan looked up at the highest point of Treasure Vase Continent's sky and said softly, "The cultivators of one continent, plus our Great Li army, must straighten their spines and first march to die. As for those who wish to survive, let them kneel and beg for mercy only after the former have died out. As for the common people under the mountain, there's really nothing they can do; they can only resign to fate."
At an official residence in the capital of Green Phoenix Kingdom.
Li Baozhen had a rare moment of leisure, extracting himself from a pile of reports from vassal state governments and Great Li landscape intelligence, to drink at the same table with two of his own people.
Now, Li Baozhen held multiple positions. Besides being one of the heads of Great Li's Green Wave Pavilion, managing all intelligence for the southeast of one continent, he also had the leisure to rise smoothly in officialdom. He served as the Minister of Rites of Green Phoenix Kingdom, had been sent out of the capital twice to serve as the chief examiner for local provincial exams, becoming a "holder of literary authority." In addition, he was the "behind-the-scenes ruler" of the mountains and rivers of several vassal states including Green Phoenix Kingdom, secretly controlling the ascent of all cultivation seeds and the recruitment of new members and expulsion of old ones in martial arts sects.
Li Baozhen threw a book to the middle-aged man across from him and smiled, "This fellow townsman of ours, the young mountain master of the Fallen Mountain, seems to have completely ruined his reputation on Treasure Vase Continent from now on."
The man was Zhu He, the former bodyguard of the Li Mansion on Fortune Street, and the young woman was his daughter, Zhu Lu.
This father and daughter had not only long since escaped their lowly status, but Zhu He had also secured a position in the Great Li army. He had served as a Great Li army-affiliated cultivator for many years, with a status similar to Wei Xian beside Liu Xunmei, the supervisor of the great river project. However, Zhu He's military achievements were far inferior to Wei Xian's. His current honorary official rank was low, only the humble position of Halberd Bearer. If he transferred to a local official post, it would mostly be as a county commandant in a vassal state, though compared to ordinary vassal officials, he would have an additional status as a pure military merit official.
Besides the newly created position of Patrol Envoy, which had the same rank as the Pillar of State, the Great Li dynasty's officialdom had also undergone major reforms. Official ranks were still divided into substantive ranks and honorary ranks, especially the latter, with civil and martial honorary ranks each increased by six levels.
Zhu Lu had become an intelligence agent of the Green Wave Pavilion, working under Li Baozhen.
Zhu He took the book, bewildered. He glanced at his daughter, who seemed to be smiling, obviously knowing the reason already.
Li Baozhen poured three cups of wine, kept one for himself, and slid the other two across the table to Zhu He and Zhu Lu, indicating they didn't need to stand up to thank him. He smiled, "Maybe soon it will be banned by Great Li, or maybe it will soon be printed and spread in unofficial and alternative versions. If this book isn't banned, I look forward to the appearance of an annotated edition, so many people won't miss the many subtleties."
Zhu He began to flip through the book. "Gu Chan, Chen Ping An? Are they alluding to Gu Can from Mud Vase Alley and Chen Ping'an?"
Li Baozhen just silently drank. Zhu Lu held her cup with both hands and took a small sip.
Zhu He frowned deeply. "This?"
The man was at a loss for words.
Back then, he and his daughter had escorted Li Baoping on a long journey. Although they hadn't spent too much time with Chen Ping'an, Zhu He felt he had a clear view of his character. As for the content of the book, it wasn't entirely false, nor entirely true. But every so often, something felt off. There were always a few sentences that made Zhu He feel they were the opposite of the facts. For example, the deep, secret feelings of a young boy, or the poor youth who early on aspired to travel ten thousand miles and read ten thousand books, wholeheartedly admiring those morally perfect sages and worthies...
A chance to acquire a peerless boxing manual? Because he was a young genius with exceptional talent, no training was needed; his martial arts breakthroughs were as fast as thunder, breaking through three realms in a single day? It was so easy that it surprised several hermits and mountain immortals. As for before his travels, he had endless good fortune, favored by heaven. After traveling, he actively took on responsibilities, and whenever he encountered injustice, he threw punches decisively. It seemed to depict a spirited, chivalrous, and righteous man of passion. And every time he paid a price, an even greater reward followed.
But in Zhu He's eyes, Chen Ping'an was the opposite. He was mature and steady, with far more gloom than youthful vigor.
As for romantic interests? With Chen Ping'an's blockhead personality, forget it.
Zhu He shook his head repeatedly, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Zhu He wasn't stupid. Although he wasn't a scholar, he still saw the numerous hidden dangers within. The wandering knight in the book, using moralists to criticize others everywhere, arbitrarily killing people. Although he didn't indiscriminately murder innocents, upon closer examination, apart from one or two troublesome ghosts and monsters, those who died under Chen Ping'an's fists were, upon scrutiny, all beings that could be killed or left alive—they were in a gray area.
Zhu He flipped through the book quickly and couldn't help asking, "Didn't we hear earlier that Chen Ping'an had been trapped in Letter Bamboo Lake for many years, with a miserable ending? It was only after many years that he returned to his hometown."
Zhu Lu let out a light snort.
He liked to seek suffering for himself, and now he was reaping the consequences.
If it were her, with a friend like Gu Can, she would either secretly maintain the relationship or weigh the pros and cons and simply ignore him. Let him live or die in Letter Bamboo Lake. What did it have to do with you, Chen Ping'an? Not even a half copper coin's worth of connection? He didn't have the ability to be on the list of the top ten young talents or the ten alternates selected by Beiju Continent, but his fame was even greater than those twenty young geniuses. Your luck is really good, Chen Ping'an, as always.
Li Baozhen raised his wine glass, slowly rotating it, and said with a smile, "We readers, who doesn love to read about romantic encounters in the jianghu and opportunities on the mountains? But the moralists, after reading this book, will have plenty to say. Jianghu heroes will curse this person for seeking fame, refusing to kill Gu Can, and using this to cultivate his reputation. Spending a few hundred taels of silver to hastily hold a few rites—can that bring peace of mind? The registered immortals on the mountains will regard him as a wild cultivator. The wild cultivators will mock him for not being experienced enough, having good fortune but being a showpiece. If he weren't a character in the book, he would have died a dozen times already. As for scholars and students, while envying his tangled romantic debts, they will surely curse him as a hypocrite, worse than a beast."
Zhu He said, "Moreover, the book deliberately describes the boxing manual and immortal techniques in extremely detailed and meticulous detail. Although they are only basic entry-level boxing principles and techniques, many in the jianghu and wild cultivators will covet them, causing this book to spread widely in the mountains, wilderness, and markets. How can it be banned? It can't be stopped at all. If the Great Li government publicly bans this book, it will instead inadvertently fuel its spread."
Li Baozhen downed his wine in one gulp, "The more the Fallen Mountain expands in the future, the higher Chen Ping'an's realm becomes, the greater the criticism of him on Treasure Vase Continent. The more extraordinary his feats, the greater the infamy. Everything will be seen as excessive selfishness, at best hypocritical benevolence and righteousness, pretending to be a good person doing good deeds. The person who compiled this book is, besides Liu Qingfeng, the scholar I admire most. I really want to meet him and sincerely seek his advice."
Li Baozhen looked towards the door and said with a smile, "Mr. Liu, don't you agree? If there's a chance in the future, why don't we join hands and visit this like-minded person?"
Liu Qingfeng stood at the door and laughed, "Using unrighteousness to hunt for righteousness—for you and me, scholars who have read the sage books crookedly, isn't that an easy thing to do? Even if it succeeds, what sense of achievement is there?"
Li Baozhen raised his empty cup, "Mr. Liu is always one step ahead of me."
Liu Qingfeng waved his hand, "I came to see you this time to discuss something."
Li Baozhen put down his cup, stood up with a smile, "Then let's find another place."
Zhu He and his daughter Zhu Lu both recognized this uninvited guest, so they stood up earlier than Li Baozhen, clasped their fists in respect, and said respectfully, "Greetings, Supervisor Liu."
This former civil official from Green Phoenix Kingdom, notorious in the past, was, according to their master, destined to become a frontier official of the Great Li dynasty. Apart from being fated to die young with a short lifespan, Liu Qingfeng had no other weaknesses. He was an extremely dangerous person. Mountain immortals, vassal monarchs—none of them meant anything to him.
Liu Qingfeng smiled warmly and nodded slightly at the two.
After finishing his business with Li Baozhen, Liu Qingfeng, accompanied by Wang Yifu, had a personal retinue cultivator pilot a flying boat to a high mountain peak. At the foot of the mountain was an official road. Liu Qingfeng asked the cultivator to use the technique of viewing mountains and rivers, looking from afar at a man and a woman walking slowly on the road below.
The young man on the road limped, while the plain-looking woman with a sword glanced unintentionally towards the mountain peak, then nodded slightly, pretending nothing had happened.
But that brief glance upward startled the Nascent Soul army cultivator; the killing intent was immense.
Liu Qingfeng said, "You can stop the technique now."
The two at the foot of the mountain were Liu Qingshan and Liu Boqi returning from afar. The couple had previously gone to the Master's Knife Chamber on Inverted Mountain to visit her family home.
Actually, Liu Boqi hadn't intended to go, but Liu Qingshan insisted on meeting her master, regardless of the outcome—whether he received a scolding or was driven away from Inverted Mountain, it was a matter of proper decorum. But they hadn't expected that when they reached Old Dragon City, several intercontinental ferries said they could no longer go to sea. No matter how Liu Qingshan asked for the reason, they only said they didn't know. In the end, Liu Boqi went out privately and brought back a shocking piece of news: Inverted Mountain no longer allowed ferries from the eight continents to dock, because the Sword Qi Great Wall had entered a state of alert and would not do any business with Haoran. Liu Boqi wasn't too worried about the Master's Knife Chamber, but she couldn't help feeling a bit regretful. She had originally planned to leave behind descendants and then go to the Sword Qi Great Wall alone. As for when she would return home, she would tell her husband three words: not necessarily.
Liu Boqi hesitated for a moment, then said, "Big brother is now supervising the excavation of the great river. Shouldn't we go see him?"
Liu Qingshan shook his head, "I don't have such a big brother."
Liu Boqi said helplessly, "Big brother has his reasons."
Liu Qingshan said gloomily, "Green Phoenix Kingdom has Liu Qingfeng, Great Li has Liu Qingfeng, but I don't have such a big brother. Lion Garden and the Liu family genealogy don't have him."
Liu Boqi didn't try to persuade him further. Back then, outside the family temple, Liu Qingfeng had reminded her, his sister-in-law, that some things didn't need to be said too much to Liu Qingshan.
The limping scholar suddenly reddened his eyes. Excavating that great river was such hard work, and that guy wasn't a cultivator, yet he liked to do everything himself.
—
At the source of the first great river in Treasure Vase Continent's history.
A maidservant from Mud Vase Alley named Zhigui stood alone by the water, her expression shifting between light and dark.
This great river was named the Qi River!
Not only that, but her ability to navigate the river was thanks to that damn dissolution contract in her sleeve!
Back when they entered into the contract, the orphan from Mud Vase Alley, whose life lantern was as weak as a candle in the wind, naturally knew nothing about it.
Who would have thought that this guy would now dare to dissolve the contract alone?!
—
Before dawn, within a Minister's mansion in the Great Li capital, a centenarian official, after donning his official robe, suddenly changed his mind and said he wouldn't attend the morning court.
The old man changed into casual home clothes. An old servant holding a lantern accompanied him to the study. After lighting the lamp, the old Minister of Personnel sat at his desk and said with a smile, "How many years has it been since I've settled down to properly read a book?"
After all, the old man was advanced in age and his eyesight was failing. He had to huddle close to the lamp, his head near the book.
The old man suddenly muttered to himself, "Mr. Cui really didn't lie. Now, the scholars of our Great Li truly will no longer have their essays and poems looked down upon by outsiders just because they are from Great Li or speak the Great Li official dialect."
He turned his head to look at the gray dawn outside the window, "But I wonder if our Great Li scholars will overnight become the very scholars they once most detested."
The oldest flowers and trees in the capital included the green paulownia outside the Guan family library, the wisteria of the Han family, and the peonies of the Huguo Temple.
Old Master Guan had often sighed over the years at the wormholes in his green paulownia tree. Some of his descendants suggested that since the ancestor cherished the paulownia so much, they could invite a mountain immortal to perform some magic. But Old Master Guan scolded them harshly, calling them unworthy descendants one after another. Only his direct great-grandson Guan Yiran would appreciate the paulownia with Old Master Guan, and after a few words, the old man would feel somewhat comforted.
Facing the darkness outside the window, the old man sighed, "I hope it doesn't come to that. Scholars should still have some literati spirit and scholarly integrity."
"Words should not exceed the truth; every utterance should have practical use. Actions should not stray from the law; every sentence should not be empty talk."
Old Master Guan suddenly put down his book and stood up, saying, "Quickly prepare the carriage for the morning court!"
The old servant outside the door reminded him, "Master, shouldn't you change into your official robe first?"
The old man laughed heartily, "To hell with the official robe. Today, I'm going to leave a mark in Great Li's history books. In the first month of spring in the sixth year of Chunjia, the Minister of Personnel, so-and-so, old and forgetful, attended the morning court in a scholar's robe, which was a great breach of etiquette. He was stopped at the door. In the cold spring, the old minister stood forlorn, shivering like a quail. Haha, how interesting..."
The old servant added, "Master, then you should hide some snacks in your sleeve. Being cold is your own doing, but going hungry is unnecessary. Cold and hunger together—your old bones can't handle that."
The old man chuckled, "Wonderful!"
An old scholar in a blue robe stood on the city wall of the Great Li capital.
Behind him was the Great Li capital, where lights were beginning to flicker faintly. Before him were all kinds of people waiting to enter the capital: merchants from various places, traveling scholars, jianghu martial artists, and interspersed among them, mountain cultivators.
National Teacher Cui Chan turned his head to look back at the lights within the city. Since he had become the National Teacher, this capital, whether day or night, had not had its lights extinguished for even a moment in over a hundred years. Within the city, there was always a lamp burning.
It was thanks to the splendid lights of wealthy families, the eternal lamps of Taoist temples and Buddhist monasteries, and the midnight oil burned by poor scholars in humble alleys studying by lamplight...
Cui Chan turned his head back and looked outside the city. There were merchants rubbing their hands and breathing warmth into them, people curled up on carts dozing, and traveling scholars from other places who had agreed to journey together to the Great Li capital. As dawn broke, they climbed down from hired carriages and pointed at the city wall. There were also carriages of the wealthy, and children woken up, shouting that they couldn't hold it anymore, causing worry among the women and children.
Cui Chan stood alone on the city wall. Great Li soldiers patrolling the wall, their iron armor clanking, came behind the National Teacher and then moved on.
Cui Chan hoped that every person entering the city, especially the young ones, would have light in their eyes before entering.
Ambition, desire.
Wealth, riches, fame, beautiful women, fine wine, opportunities.
Everyone relies on their own ability. Our Great Li capital has everything you need. Gentlemen, help yourselves!
—
Liu Xianyang once again silently returned to his hometown from Southern Patience Continent. This time, he was staying and not leaving. Because in the ancestral hall of the Divine Elegance Mountain, since the Dragon Spring Sword Sect was established under Ruan Qiong's leadership, there were no ancestral portraits hanging, and Liu Xianyang only needed to burn incense.
The Dragon Spring Sword Sect did not hold a grand ceremony to open the peak. Everything was kept simple, and they didn't even inform the Snow Wind Temple, which was like a maternal home.
It wasn't like that Pei Yun Mountain, which was obsessed with money.
Ruan Qiong simply called Xu Xiaoqiao and Xie Ling from the north back to the mountain, along with the earliest direct disciples like Dong Gu, and had a casual family meal.
There were six of them: Ruan Qiong, Ruan Xiu, Dong Gu, Xu Xiaoqiao, Xie Ling, and Liu Xianyang.
Liu Xianyang didn't cultivate on the mountain, nor did he go to the new territory north of the Great Li capital. Instead, he went to the blacksmith shop by the Dragon Beard River. After Xu Xiaoqiao left that place, it gradually fell into disuse.
And Liu Xianyang didn't seem to be cultivating much. The Dragon Spring Sword Sect had not publicly announced his status as a direct disciple of the sect. So Liu Xianyang just wandered around every day.
Today, Dong Gu came to the blacksmith shop and waited a long time before Liu Xianyang, who had been idling, returned.
Liu Xianyang scurried over cheerfully, clasped his fists, and said with a smile, "Senior Brother, are you looking for me? Why didn't you just send a flying sword message?"
Dong Gu shook his head and smiled, "It's not urgent."
Liu Xianyang brought two small bamboo chairs, and they each sat down under the eaves. Liu Xianyang said, "Senior Brother, you can speak frankly. We're family, no need for formalities."
Dong Gu said, "The master has taken in two batches of direct disciples, so your ranking, Junior Brother Liu, is too far back. I think that's not quite appropriate. I wanted to ask if you have any thoughts."
Seeing that Liu Xianyang was just grinning and saying he had no thoughts, Dong Gu had to continue, "Junior Brother Liu, please don't think I'm testing you. That's absolutely not the case. I've always felt guilty about occupying the position of senior brother all this time. I am a lowly mountain spirit creature, not a sword cultivator. Over the years, the Great Li mountains and rivers have been mocking this matter. The master doesn't mind, which is his magnanimity. But if I don't mind, I'm truly confirming my non-human origin. What virtue and ability do I, Dong Gu, have to dare to be the founding senior disciple of the Dragon Spring Sword Sect?!"
Their master Ruan Qiong was not the type to beat around the bush. At the previous meal, he had directly stated that Liu Xianyang was a Golden Core sword cultivator and currently the highest realm among the disciples.
Regarding the matter of the senior brother, Ruan Qiong had once had an open conversation with Dong Gu, saying that if Liu Xianyang hadn't come, Dong Gu would have to grit his teeth and continue. But since Liu Xianyang had long had ties to the Dragon Spring Sword Sect and had a higher realm and better aptitude, Dong Gu genuinely felt that replacing him with Liu Xianyang as senior brother would be more appropriate and better for the Dragon Spring Sword Sect.
Liu Xianyang leaned forward, rubbed his face with his hands, and said, "Senior Brother needs to be someone steady to handle all sorts of miscellaneous affairs, so the junior brothers and sisters can cultivate in peace. Senior Brother Dong, do you think I look like someone suitable to be the senior brother?"
Dong Gu said, "Still better than me."
Liu Xianyang shook his head, "What you think doesn't matter."
Dong Gu said helplessly, "I understand."
Dong Gu was silent for a long time, then suddenly said, "Junior Brother Liu, I don't know why, but I'm a little afraid of you."
Liu Xianyang nodded, "It's because I've been to the Sword Qi Great Wall and drawn my sword. And now, my realm isn't high enough, so I can't hide it well."
Dong Gu suddenly understood and didn't say anything more. He stood up and took his leave.
Liu Xianyang propped his chin with one hand, gazing into the distance. He himself had only drawn his sword a few times, and it was already like this. Then what about him?
—
The Fifth Continent.
A city broke through the sky and descended from heaven.
An old scholar watched the scene from afar, both happy and deeply saddened.
Happy that the Sword Qi Great Wall had ultimately left behind so many seeds of the sword, ensuring the incense would never be extinguished.
Sad that the city had landed, reminding the old scholar of the time when the beaded cavern heaven had fallen to the human world. It must have been a similar scene.
The scholar said, "My sword technique is indeed inferior to Chen Qingdu's."
The old scholar scolded with a laugh, "You're not a sword cultivator, you're just a scholar who hasn't even passed the imperial examinations. If your sword technique were better than Chen Qingdu's, where would that great old sword immortal's face go?"
The scholar asked, "Aren't you going to go take a look over there?"
You, a Wen Sheng, insist on showing off your scholar status to me. What kind of reasoning is that?
The old scholar scratched his head, muttering that he'd better not, but his eyes darted to the man known as the proudest scholar in the mortal world, and to the immortal sword in his hand.
The man said helplessly, "I've set a rule: I don't teach sword techniques to others. Besides, these young sword cultivators don't need me to do anything unnecessary. As for the sword in my hand, I'm going to return it to the Great Profound Capital Temple sooner or later. Your little schemes won't work."
The old scholar stood on tiptoe, glanced at the distant city, and said regretfully, "It's a pity that the Dragon-Slaying Cliff was refined into the city's foundation by the great old sword immortal."
The man asked, "Earlier, the two Confucian Temple sages seemed to have something to say. What did you mutter about with them?"
The old scholar was immensely pleased, stroked his beard, and said with a smile, "Nothing much, nothing much. Just giving some guidance on knowledge. I, with all this knowledge in my belly, am not like some people who hoard their sword techniques. Anyone can come and learn."
The man said, "Since you're not going to the city, then continue opening the doors."
The old scholar suddenly changed his mind, "Come with me to my closed-door disciple's wine shop for a drink. I'll treat you, but you pay the bill."
The man shook his head.
In the distance, within the city, someone flew up on a sword, randomly chose a direction, and the sword light shot away instantly.
They should be trying to quickly understand the situation of this new world.
During the flight, that person had already broken through from Nascent Soul into the upper five realms.
He asked, "Is that Ning Yao?"
The immortal sword in his hand vibrated slightly.
The scholar then nodded, "It seems she was forcibly suppressed at the Nascent Soul realm by the Sword Qi Great Wall."
The old scholar laughed so hard he couldn't close his mouth, "My closed-door disciple, how could his vision be bad? Finding a teacher, he got this!"
The old scholar held up one thumb, then another, "Finding a wife, he got this!"
In the distance, that sword light, after a moment, seemed to have already aligned with the great Dao of this world, stabilizing at the Jade Pu realm. It instantly turned the sword tip and flew towards the old scholar.
The immortal sword in the scholar's hand made a sound like a dragon's roar.
As if meeting an old friend.
Ning Yao flew to the mountaintop on her sword, landed gracefully, and saw the old scholar.
She didn't speak. She just raised her arm, pressed it horizontally before her eyes, the back of her hand pressed tightly against her forehead, and said to the old man, choked with sobs, "I'm sorry."
The old scholar stamped his feet in anxiety, hurried over to her, patted her head a few times in the air, and said, "Girl Ning, sorry for what? There's nothing to be sorry about. It's that kid Chen Ping'an who lacked ability. Blame him, blame him. Don't blame yourself. If you really want to blame, we can't blame Chen Ping'an. Let's all blame Chen Qingdu. Pfft, some great old sword immortal, just handing the burden to a young man. If that doesn't work, blame this useless teacher of mine..."
Ning Yao had already returned to her normal expression. She lowered her hand, bid farewell to the Wen Sheng old gentleman, flew off on her sword, and continued to explore the myriad mountains and rivers of this Fifth Continent alone.
Soon, cultivators from three great worlds would flood in here, and there would definitely be many Qi refiners stuck at the Nascent Soul bottleneck.
As for the future situation of the Sword Qi Great Wall, besides drawing swords and fighting, there would be a lot of scheming and intrigue.
What the situation of this world was, what the rules and customs were, Ning Yao didn't ask a single word.
The scholar nodded, "Worthy of being a sword cultivator of the Sword Qi Great Wall. For ten thousand years, they have never sought help from others."
The old scholar sat down heavily on the ground, dejected, "My closed-door disciple, in the end, who can he turn to? This teacher of his? That senior brother of his? You might as well kill me. This teacher is so miserable and stifled..."
The scholar asked, "Where should I slash?"
The old scholar immediately stood up, dusted himself off, coughed, "Bai Ye, you just can't take a joke. Change that in the future, okay?"
The scholar transformed into a sword light and continued busily opening doors. Just for the Haoran continent's Southern Patience, Fu Yao, and Tongye, he would have to wield his sword and open three great gates.
Inside the fallen city.
Ning Yao had already flown on her sword and broken through.
She became the first Jade Pu realm cultivator of this new world.
In the future, she would lead the Hidden Official lineage. From the Summer Palace, Dong Budu, Luo Zhenyi, Xu Ning, Chang Taiqing, Guo Zhujiu, Gu Jianlong, Wang Xinshui, and the newest addition, Fan Dache.
So now, the Hidden Official lineage had only nine members in total, responsible for law enforcement, supervising all sword cultivators.
The Nascent Soul realm Qi Shou was responsible for rebuilding the Punishment Officer lineage, in charge of punishment, fighting, and killing. The martial artists from the Cold Retreat Palace would also belong to the Punishment Officer lineage in the future.
Currently, all Golden Core and Nascent Soul realm sword cultivators would automatically be assigned to the Punishment Officer lineage. If they wanted to withdraw, they would have to exchange military merits for it in the future. After that, they could leave the city and establish their own sects freely. But if the city sent a flying sword message summoning them, any sword cultivator who dared not return would be treated as an enemy and killed without mercy.
Among them was a woman named Nian Xin, wearing a robe styled like a celestial cave garment. She seemed not fully recovered from a serious illness. She was at the Nascent Soul realm, not a sword cultivator, yet she served as the second-in-command of the Punishment Officer lineage.
Construction of an ancestral hall began within the city, with only one portrait hanging: Chen Qingdu.
In addition, various measures, such as re-establishing the clothing workshop, sword workshop, and pill workshop, were being carried out step by step according to pre-existing procedures. Everything appeared orderly.
After Ning Yao was the first to leave the city, the remaining eight sword cultivators of the Hidden Official lineage paired up and chose different directions to fly out of the city to travel, needing to draw a geographical survey map. If they encountered obstacles along the way, they would immediately send a flying sword message to Qi Shou and Nian Xin of the Punishment Officer line for reinforcement.
Gao Yie was responsible for watching over a life lantern. Only a handful of people knew about this.
As for Nian Xin, who had fallen from the Jade Pu realm, she left the prison, infiltrated the city, and came to this world together. She carried the Hidden Official token with her. According to the agreement, she did not immediately return it to the Hidden Official lineage.
According to the young Hidden Official's words, she could only show this token under two circumstances:
Ning Yao was in danger.
Or Chen Xi, who had been reincarnated, had not yet grown and was losing power to Qi Shou's Punishment Officer lineage.
Nian Xin came alone to that wine shop. Now there was no owner. The big shopkeeper, Diezhang, had gone to the Haoran world, and the second shopkeeper had stayed on the city wall.
The city had just landed not long ago, and the great battle seemed still fresh in memory, so there wasn't much business.
Nian Xin ordered a bowl of Mute Lake wine, drinking alone. Before drinking, she raised the small wine bowl to toast a not-so-old stranger from a foreign land.
—
The entire Rain Dragon Sect, from top to bottom, was stunned.
First, an inverted mountain, the Water Essence Palace, was inexplicably overturned and fell into the sea, forcing the Qi refiners to return to the sect in disarray.
Then, a handsome young man with a sword-nurturing gourd hanging at his waist quickly appeared at the top of a Rain Master statue on the Rain Dragon Sect's mountain, claiming to be from the Wild Waste Continent, a true demon, and begged everyone to kill him, this beast.
The young man smiled brightly, raised his hands, indicating that he had made up his mind to submit to death and would not fight back.
The female sect leader of the Rain Dragon Sect, Yun Qian's senior sister, led all the cultivators of the ancestral hall to the mountaintop, looking up at the handsome youth.
One of the Rain Dragon Sect elders communicated with him via heart-to-heart, saying that the Rain Dragon Sect had a secret agreement with the mountain and water cave ancestor of Fu Yao Continent and the senior who had attached himself to the border.
An inverted mountain had already flown away.
As long as the Rain Dragon Sect cultivators weren't blind, they could see it.
This demon came to the top of the Rain Dragon Sect's Rain Master statue, asking to be killed. That meant the Sword Qi Great Wall, which had been guarded for ten thousand years, had been breached. No matter how hard it was to imagine, it had to be acknowledged as a fact.
Fu Ke, the youngest earthly immortal in Rain Dragon Sect history, and his two immortal husband-and-wife partners stood behind the ancestral hall elders.
The handsome man who claimed to be a demon snapped his fingers and killed the Nascent Soul realm old woman elder of the Rain Dragon Sect on the spot.
After killing, he smiled and said, "You look so ugly with your crane-like hair and chicken-like skin. I thought you old hag was being malicious, trying to scare this lord to death. Oh, by the way, I forgot to announce my name. I heard you people in the Haoran world place great importance on this."
He twirled a strand of hair at his temple with two fingers, patted the sword-nurturing gourd at his waist, and said with a grin, "My name is Wine Dimples. Because in life, I only have two loves: fine wine and beautiful women. Your Rain Dragon Sect lacks neither, so I came here first. You probably haven't heard of this name, since it's a new name I took specifically for your Haoran world. My old name was Qie Yun."
When the Rain Dragon Sect cultivators heard "Qie Yun," their faces turned ashen.
It was a throne great demon.
Because the Rain Dragon Sect had been established for a very long time and was close to Inverted Mountain and the Sword Qi Great Wall, they knew quite a bit about the inner workings of the Wild Waste Continent.
For example, among the fourteen throne positions in the ancient well, besides the master of Tuo Yue Mountain, the Great Ancestor of the Wild Waste Continent, there were "Wen Hai" Zhou Mi, wandering knight Liu Cha, Yao Jia, Dragon Lord, Lotus Flower Nunnery Master, Bai Ying, Yang Zhi, Fei Fei, and Huang Luan.
In addition, there was a Golden Armored Divine General said to be imprisoned by the Dao Ancestor's magic, a mountain-carrying ape with a pole on its shoulder wielding a sword, a three-headed six-armed giant, and one holding an ancient thunder spear.
But what the Rain Dragon Sect didn't know was that the Lotus Flower Nunnery Master had fallen. The Feisheng realm great demon Chongguang was killed by Chen Xi. As for other upper five realm and earthly immortal great demons, the losses had been severe over the years in breaking through the Sword Qi Great Wall.
Huang Luan was killed by A Liang and Yao Chongdao together. Huang Luan's final contribution to the Wild Waste Continent was to expend most of his life, causing A Liang to be suppressed under Tuo Yue Mountain.
Therefore, Tuo Yue Mountain had previously ordered the various military camps not to allow any upper five realm demon to pursue Huang Luan, who had been reborn through his life lamp's continuation. A Huang Luan forcibly disintegrated, now with only a Nascent Soul realm, was no different from a child. As for cultivators below the upper five realms, whether they were instructed by great demons to hunt Huang Luan, that was up to them. Whether a group of Nascent Soul realms secretly ambushed Huang Luan, or three to five Nascent Soul sword cultivators joined in the siege, Tuo Yue Mountain wouldn't bother with such trivial matters. Since he had lost his realm, he had lost his throne. In the Wild Waste Continent, the strong rule.
And the former Hidden Official of the Sword Qi Great Wall, Xiao Xun, was now the newest throne member of the Wild Waste Continent.
As for the current Hidden Official, since the Sword Qi Great Wall was gone, he could probably be called the "former Hidden Official" as well. Neither human nor ghost, but he remained on the Sword Qi Great Wall.
After the great demon Wine Dimples casually killed, some young cultivators were overwhelmed with grief and indignation, shouting for the ancestral hall elders to activate the mountain's array.
But from the Rain Dragon Sect sect leader to the ancestral hall members, they turned a deaf ear.
The great demon Wine Dimples scanned with his gaze, picking off the Rain Dragon Sect cultivators who had spoken one by one. Clouds of blood mist exploded, here and there, spaced far apart, but fast—like a string of firecrackers in a bustling street during spring festival.
He laughed, "There aren't many male cultivators in the Rain Dragon Sect. I like that. From now on, whoever kills a man gets to live. When the last man dies, those sisters who haven't killed anyone, I'll kill you. Of course, if you're good-looking, you're born lucky, and I'll show some pity for the jade and the fragrance. So those of you who aren't so attractive, you'd better hurry. Opportunity doesn't come twice. If a person who has climbed the mountain and become an immortal cultivator cherishes their life, I think they really don't deserve to live."
A female elder of the Rain Dragon Sect's ancestral hall spoke up, begging this throne great demon not to kill indiscriminately, that the Rain Dragon Sect was willing to do this and that. But Wine Dimples reached out and grabbed her, brought her before him, held her head, twisted his wrist so her body hung in the air, chopped down with his palm like a blade, cleaving her in two. Then he opened his mouth, sucked in, and directly devoured her Golden Core and Nascent Soul. Finally, he threw the half corpse in his hand into the sea.
Above the Rain Dragon Sect, there was a slaughter among themselves, women killing men. Among them were dao partners killing each other, and some who didn't kill, instead helping their partners stop others from killing, only to be killed together.
The sect leader and ancestral hall members of the Rain Dragon Sect each killed a man, no more, no less—just one.
Soon, Fu Ke found that the entire Rain Dragon Sect had only one man left: him. And his two immortal husband-and-wife partners stood protectively by his side, their eyes resolute.
Wine Dimples nodded and smiled, "You have two dao partners. If you kill one with your own hands, you get to live. How about that? If they commit suicide, it doesn't count as your kill."
Before the two women could say anything, Fu Ke had already killed one of them.
Then Wine Dimples nodded, very satisfied, and slapped the man to death with his palm, laughing heartily, "You actually believed my words, you died of stupidity."
One of the female cultivators stared blankly at the bloody mess that was Fu Ke on the ground. Wine Dimples grabbed her and brought her before him, casually wiped off her beautiful face skin—not just peeling it off—then tossed the wailing, pitiful woman aside. It wasn't just about peeling skin; without the female cultivator's soul attached, the face skin would lose its spirit, and if he used it for "makeup," it would be meaningless. He shook the face skin in his hand, gently blew off the blood, and said with a smile, "Beautiful."
The Rain Dragon Sect sect leader said in a trembling voice, "Ancestor Qie Yun, why are you doing this? Isn't it better to keep us alive to show you the way? Whether to Southern Patience Continent or Tongye Continent, if we lead the way in landing and fighting..."
Wine Dimples waved the fresh face skin in his hand, interrupting the Jade Pu realm old woman's words, as if he had heard a ridiculous joke. He laughed uncontrollably, pressing a finger to the corner of his eye, barely able to stop laughing. "Unfortunately, in our Wild Waste Continent, the lives of ants are the cheapest. You're just a slightly bigger ant. If you had met Yang Zhi or Fei Fei, you might have lived. But you're unlucky to have encountered me."
Having said that, he turned his head to look at Inverted Mountain and murmured with a smile, "Besides, after dealing with the sword cultivators of the Sword Qi Great Wall for so many years, encountering you immortal lords again, I..."
This throne great demon was punched into the sea by a little girl with goat-horn braids, like a mountain falling into the water, stirring up a huge wave.
Before the female cultivators on the Rain Dragon Sect mountain could have any illusions, that little girl dashed between the two mountains, punching one after another, killing all the earthly immortals in one go.
And the throne great demon who returned from the sea to the Rain Dragon Sect strolled leisurely, selecting the faces of women below the Golden Core realm, peeling them off one by one. As for whether they lived or died, there was no need to care.
A gray-robed old man came to the Rain Dragon Sect's mountain peak. "Xiao Xun, Qie Yun, let it slide this time for erasing an entire sect. Don't do it again."
Even if some living people remained, the Rain Dragon Sect was already finished.
Xiao Xun stood with her arms crossed, silent.
The great demon Qie Yun barely managed to pick out a few relatively intact face skins from the broken corpses all over the ground. Now he gathered them all together and was carefully stitching them onto his own face. He smiled humbly at the gray-robed old man and said, "Yes."
Xiao Xun said, "Not even if we exchange military merits?"
The gray-robed old man smiled, "Of course. As long as you have enough military merits, you can kill as you please."
Xiao Xun suddenly turned to Qie Yun and said, "Well done!"
The great demon Qie Yun smiled without a word, just continuing to stitch his face, adding beauty.
—
Day after day, year after year.
On the Sword Qi Great Wall, atop the wall.
It finally welcomed the first heavy snowfall.
The young man, whose face and form were gradually becoming clear and stable, now stood on the cliff of the city wall. Beneath the bright red robe, a scar that nearly cut through his entire torso and spine was healing on its own.
He had wanted to sneak out of the Sword Qi Great Wall a bit to kill some of the demon army flowing through the broken section of the wall.
He had to find something to do.
But the elusive gray robe had appeared instantly.
In the end, he was struck hard by the opponent's sword. If he hadn't used a secret technique he had kept up his sleeve, allowing him to return to the Sword Qi Great Wall, even if Chen Ping'an were truly a Jade Pu realm, he would have definitely died.
At this moment, Chen Ping'an was facing off from a distance against the Dragon Lord on the opposite city wall.
In the end, without saying anything to the Dragon Lord, the young man turned around and walked away, dragging his sword.
The Dragon Lord said hoarsely, "Chen Qingdu only found a waste like you to stay here as a watchdog?"
Li Zhen flew over on his sword, laughing, "Poor thing, I really don't know if you're guarding the gate for the Sword Qi Great Wall or for our Wild Waste Continent."
The retreating figure just walked further and further away.